Malteaster Bunny

One of the nice things about January is that this is the month when Easter treats pop up on shop shelves here in the UK.

Cadbury’s Creme Eggs are one of my favourite Easter snacks, but I’ve waxed lyrical about these before (here), so instead I would like to introduce a relative newcomer to the Easter treat market, the Malteaster Bunny:

I don’t know exactly when the Malteaster Bunny hopped into production, but I’ve been aware of them bouncing about for the past two Easters.

When it first came out, as far as I’m aware, the Bunny was available in one size only – the 29g pack pictured above. This year, however, I’ve noticed for the first time that there is a smaller treat called the Malteaster Minibunny, which weighs in at a teeny wee 11.6g, less than half the weight of the original Bunny.

From what I’ve seen of them, Minibunnies only come in packs of five. Here is a single original sized Malteaster Bunny next to a warren of 5 Minibunnies:

And here is the warren, with the Bunny and then one Minibunny:

Here’s a full complement of 5 Minibunnies:

The original Bunny and the Minibunny are a little bit different from each other in shape, as well as size. Here’s a Bunny on the left with a Minibunny nextdoor:

Where the Minibunny is pretty svelte, the larger Bunny has an agreeably expansive paunch:

The Minibunny is just over 5cm tall and the Bunny is very nearly 9cm:

Both the Bunny and the Minibunny are made of the same stuff, a thick and creamy chocolate coating round a Malteser-based centre. The centre is made up of the honeycomb crunchiness you find in Maltesers, encased in an almost fudge-like matrix. The chocolate on the ears of the Bunny, in particular, is quite glossy:

In an attempt to find out if there was any difference in taste between the Bunny and the Minibunny, I did a blind taste test. The only discernible difference was that the Minibunny seemed to have a creamier taste, but I think this was due to me biting a bit that had thicker chocolate and less honeycomb centre than that of the Bunny.

I’m not sure what the recommended retail prices are, but when I bought them they were all on special offer and the Bunny worked out cheaper than the Minibunnies per gram.

As you would expect with any sort of chocolate, Malteaster Bunnies slip down perfectly with a cup of tea or coffee (and a piece of marmalade cake if you happen to have it):

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51 thoughts on “Malteaster Bunny”

That was very cute! and it seems like the chocolate bunnies multiply as quickly as the real ones…..one can only hope…. :) I wonder if they have those over here on my side of the ocean…I’ll have to look for them.

Anything with rabbits in it is bound to be cute isnt’ it? Adorable little creatures. What a marvellous idea, that the chocolate ones might multiply like the real thing. I hope you can find them on your side of the pond.

Oh I just love these little bunny-chocolates…I’m getting hungry over here. And even though we know Maltesers here in Italy I’ve never seen this version before :(… Maybe I should wait until we’re getting more towards Easter?? Well, take a bite for me Lorna ;)

Thank you, and what a commission! I gladly lift your gauntlet, sir. I’m not much of a Galaxy eater usually so that would be an interesting challenge. As far as I can remember there’s an ordinary one, fruit and nut, caramel and….is that it? I obviously need to do some research.

Not sure if I mentioned this to you before, but I had the lucky fortune to have worked for M&M/Mars for almost 28 years….I LOVE Maltesers and was always thrilled when we had a few brought back from associates who had just returned from a U.K. trip. They are not available in the U.S. except in British stores and some specialty confectionery shops (this partially due to the Whopper competitor that is entrenched here…yet Whoppers are no where near as interesting as the delightful Malteser in my humble opinion.) One point about the larger sized product versus mini….if you enjoy more of the filling (vs. the chocolate coating)…go with the larger one…the ratio of filling to chocolate changes as the size changes…usually “minis” have more chocolate than filling… sorry to go on and on but I do love this post.

Don’t be sorry, I’m delighted to have your enthusiastic response Linda, thank you! I’ve been wondering about these Whoppers, we don’t get them here. It sounds as if I’ve landed lucky with Maltesers and, knowing how much I like them, I think it’d be hard for another similar product to steal my affections. How interesting about the chocolate to filling ratio, I didn’t know about that rule. One thing about Maltesers is that the chocolate coating is very thin (how do they get it that thin?) but it’s thick on both the Bunny and Minibunny, which is a good thing, in my opinion.

I agree with “teawithbetty” about the Whoppers. They’re okay at first but once you try a Malteser there’s no going back. We get Maltesers in Canada but they are more expensive (doesn’t stop me) than the Whoppers. I’ve yet to see the bunny version though! They are so cute!

Well, it seems there’s a consensus on this business of Malteser v Whopper, thank you for your opinion. I do hope they export the bunnies to Canada, I’m sure they’d sell well because they are, as you so rightly say, cute!

oh Lorna, you made me laugh. you are one funny lady! I absolutely love love love Maltesers and these are just too fabulous. I couldn’t believe you have the good fortune to have them in your shops already … wow, so amazing. LOVE the pictures and the comparisons. favorite blog post of the week!

Thank you Alison, what a wonderful endorsement! I wonder if Britain is unusual in having things in the shops very early. It’s the same at Christmas, we have cards and decorations appearing as early as the end of August. Valentine’s cards started appearing in early January this year too, I noticed. I’m sure it must be to try and make people buy more, and presumably it works.

So cute, and I love the fluffy real one too! I’m not a mad fan of Maltesers but I’m tempted to try one all the same. Thank you for this lovely review, very balanced and a lot of discipline and self-sacrifice (!) I’m sure I’d have eaten half of it before I thought, ‘”Ooops, I didn’t measure it!” I don’t mind Easter eggs appearing in stores early, because it reminds me spring is on the way.

Thank you Jo, the real one’s adorable isn’t it? It’s on a card my mum gave me. The Bunnies taste creamier than Maltesers and have thicker chocolate. Perhaps not for everyone though. That’s a very positive attitude about the Easter eggs, maybe that’s one reason why I love to see them early too. Roll on spring!

I’m following you! Thing is, I have no idea how to use Pinterest so it’ll probably never get beyond me being signed up. I quite like Twitter because it’s easy and messages are short. My enthusiasm has waned a bit lately, mind you.

My first follower!! Thanks, Lorna! Pinterest is really pretty simple (if your computer cooperates, and mine did not at first so that made it difficult). Glad you think Twitter is easy–I’ve been intimidated by that one, but maybe I’ll give it a go.

Those crispy little bunnies look yummy. We just started to see some Easter stuff crop up here in the States, as well. It’s a reassuring reminder that spring is just around the corner…well, after February and March, that is. (Sigh.) Happy munching!

Not long to go Lucinda, every day is a step closer to spring! Easter chocolate tastes different, doesn’t it? I don’t know why it is, but there’s a welcome creamy deliciousness about it, no doubt enhanced by the thoughts of better weather to come.